Well, it has been about a year since I started trying to find an agent for Someone to believe in me and several (more accurately, many) since I last posted.
The professional review that I paid for was interesting and a little disheartening. He pointed out a number of things that he found fundamentally wrong with the book, mostly to do with the pacing. On the plus side, he said that I knew how to use language and compared my writing style to Douglas Adams which I was flattered by even if his disliked much of what I had done. It is indeed a more gentle start than any of his books and that was deliberate but I take his point and I have revamped the start and tweaked the pace here and there. I have not gone as far as he might have liked but that was intentional. I respect his work and his wisdom but I was not trying to write one of his books. After a few days of sulking (there is something of the child in every writer), I sucked it up and carried on.
I was mid-way through this when my father (who I have mentioned before) fell ill - he collapsed and was found on the floor by my brother.
The next few months were pretty much dedicated to looking after my father who alternated between a care home and hospital. He had been getting more confused over time and the doctor's confirmed that he was suffering from dementia. Something about his night on the floor hastened the deterioration and within 2 months, he could no longer remember who I was. Sometimes he could not remember who he was. He did have a lucid day just before his death in September and he told me that he would proud to have me as his son. I told him that he was a fine father, the best that I had ever had and he laughed at my very small joke. He had a stroke that night and he died before I could get back to the hospital. I didn't feel up to working on satire for a little while after that.
So, here I am a year after finishing my second book. I have no agent. I have no publisher. I think that we can safely say that anyone that I approached six months or so ago was not interested. However, I have not given up on the book or writing. Indeed, a year to the day after I finished Someone to believe in me, I started work on a hard SF book with the working title Star Camel. Yes, it is an awful title and it will change but the main characters start out on a Camel class trading ship carrying cargo between worlds. I am only 14,000 words in but I have the plot arcs well defined and the character arcs are coming along. One way or another, Someone to believe in me will be available to buy and Star Camel will be published too, albeit with a much better name.
I am still getting a few sales from Z-day UK, my first book but I am yet to break even on it; indeed, it has not earned enough to pay for the advance that I gave my graphics artist. I don't mind. I have quoted Neil Gaiman before but it is worth repeating. If you write just for the money then it won’t be worth it. If it doesn’t sell then you won’t get the money and you won’t have enjoyed the work. If you write what you love and it doesn’t sell… you still have the pleasure of writing it and something that you love.
I will update this blog when I have news and I hope that will be soon.
Thank you for reading this.
Mark
